Tag Archives: arts

About the website: the website is multi-faceted, and highlights the choreographic work “One Flat Thing, Reproduced” by William Forsythe. The web pages are incredibly interactive and will mesmerize any teen dance student.

Possible classroom applications: Certain aspects of the website discuss the interaction between the dancers, which directly ties into “Relationship” within the BSTER concept. Students can add and remove the soundscore, voice-over of the choreographer, but also change perspective of the work. Students can explore the concept of kinesphere learn more about the choreographic process. It includes a range of other art forms, so is also a wonderful way to connect to other art disciplines

I have used this as a base for dialogic classroom conversation, but also homework assignments. The list of classroom applications is endless.

Pros: Children are obsessed with technology, and if anything will pull them into learning more about the culture, history, and future of dance, it’s this website. It’s interactive, and offers multiple ways into the work. Because of the multiple entry points and the fact that the site is visual and aural, there are myriad of ways to learn about the arts (and its connection to technology.

Cons: The website needs a lot of VRAM to operate, so it might take a while to load or have glitches when visiting it from an older computer. It might also be too overwhelming for ELLs or students with more severe cases of ADD/ ADHD. A way around it would be to look at the content with guidance of an adult.

About the app: The app is an app version of the classic card game Memory. The platform is free, and there are many adaptions possible to tailor to diverse age groups and their corresponding needs. In settings you can fluctuate the number of card sets from 2 to 32 pairs, and the reveal time can also be adjusted from one second to five. The version offers memory cards of animals and toys, but decks can also be self-created by the user. There are additional decks available as an in-app purchase for $0.99 each. These decks are all highly educational, and consist out of numbers, letters, shapes, colors, fruits, and musical instruments.

The app functions on both the iPad and iPhone, and can be used for one or four players. Memory King has two “wild cards.” The first is Total Recall, which once more reveals the cards that have been turned in the game. Crystal Ball, the second “wild card,” shows all cards in the game. These two enticing cards can be omitted out of the game in the settings.

Possible classroom applications: The customization option of this game offers a great opportunity for educators to give their students a playful entry point to learn content-specific words. It could be applied in ELA classes, math units, and of course the arts! Yesterday, I created a card set of ballet terms that my dance students have learned over the last few weeks, and just had a first trial run with them. I linked the iPad to the smart-board, so the pictures looked bigger than on the iPad. The students loved the interactive aspect of the smart-board, and it was a playful way to reiterate key ballet definitions. Like in the real game, students take turns, and the child who wins the most (virtual) cards wins! I used laminated gold stars as a tangible substitute for each matching pair made.

Having a distinct knowledge of the ballet idiom is essential for every dance student, but since learning ballet jargon can be perceived as a tedious task for dance students, the game offered a covert way to get the proverbial job done!The game offers audio and visual hints offering support for ELLs and other children that need strong aural and visual supports. Again, the reveal time can also easily be adjusted. This, and the opportunity to adjust the number of cards make the game suitable for all age groups.

Lastly, it’s important to note that the game doesn’t only (covertly) build and reiterates the ballet (or other) vocabulary of the participants, but also aids in the overall retention skills.

Pros: The app can be adapted in many ways, which makes it a great tool for all ages. The number of decks, the reveal time, and presence of the “wild cards” can all be altered. Additionally, the audio and visual hints tailor to students varied intelligences (i.e., music, spatial, linguistic, kinesthetic).

Cons: Unfortunately, the created decks can’t be shared between different devices or between users.

About the app:Passe-Partout is a pretty straight-forward app designed specifically for iPads. Five complementing dance solo’s and duets are layered with one another by the user, building on the notion of choreographing a dance. The choreography is by Justin Peck, who many people know as a soloist and Resident Choreographer of New York City Ballet. The app is $0.99, and is designed by 2wice Arts Foundation.

Possible classroom applications:
The Passe-Partout app is great to use as part of units that focus on contemporary ballet, male ballet dancers, New York City Ballet, or elementary choreographic devices like unison, canon, or mirroring movement. The app can also be used in a unit based on the work of Justin Peck. This is a hot-topic since he just had his theatrical release of his dance documentary film Ballet 422.

Pros:
The app is a wonderful tool that highlights men-in-dance. In modern-day society this is rather important, especially in low-income areas like Hunts Point where I currently teach. Passe-Partout is perfect to use to illustrate choreographic devices on the smart-board, but make sure to only tap one of the colored tabs to make sure only one layer of the dance is showing.

Cons:
I initially had high hopes for this application, but was rather disappointed with the product. Besides the beautiful dancing, and choreography by Justin Peck, there’s not much to it. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the many layers the app offers, and can make students feel overwhelmed. It’s also not usable on smaller devices. The buttons are too close to one another, even for small children’s fingers. Additionally, while creating the 2-dimensional dance, the user can’t pause the composition. Worst of all, the top bar that generally indicates time and battery power is invisible while in the app. When on older iPad models, the app also crashes and freezes. Not good when you’re in the middle of a 40-minute lesson!

Rating:
1 out of 5 (A two thumbs down… A rotten tomato… A Vaudeville hook yanking Peck off the stage!)

About the app:Fifth Wall is an app designed specifically for iPads that explores possible connections between choreography and technology. The app is a platform in which four to five squares, that feature a “trapped dancer,” can be mixed. There are three basic ways to combine the screens from which users then can rearrange new compositions. Fifth Wall was produced by 2wice Arts Foundation in 2012, and costs $0.99 .

Possible classroom applications:
I used Fifth Wall during a unit that focus on Laban concepts of space. Many students found the app fun! That said, Fifth Wall will hopefully draw the class into the academically drier concepts of Laban Movement Analysis. The app can also be applied to introduce movement devising. I have used this app, asking students to create a movement phrase on the floor based on the dance offered in the app. The assignment was successful, but feel this mainly happened because students were proficient in devising movement.

Pros:
The app fun to use, and will easily pull in your students. It’s a great way to trick your class into devising movement, even when they’re new to this.

Cons:
Fifth Wall is hard to use on smaller devices, and in order for assignments to stay student-centered, you need a few devices to make it work. Since the app is $0.99, it’s difficult to ask students to download the app, and spend their money. Not to mention, if they have smart phones, their parents or caretakers will most likely will have to pay. Moreover, creating compositions is extremely difficult on smaller devices, since you have to tap outside of the boxes to see the menu bar. This also has proven to be problematic on the iPad for elementary school students with small motor skill challenges.

About the app:2wice is the perfect app for units based on the work of Merce Cunningham, and features a series of photos and videos of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company taken between 2001 and 2011. The app is completely free, and also provides the user with several interview that provide insight into Cunningham’s unique creative process. 2wice is developed by Rubenstein Technology Group, and developed by 2wice Arts Foundation.

Possible classroom applications:
2wice can be used in lessons interactively through iPads, iPods, or iPhones. The platform is created specifically for iPad, but, since the only actions needed for the app are swipe or tap, it’s easy to use on smaller devices. An alternative is projecting the app on the smart-board. Students can copy the body shapes featured in the app, and combine them during introductory unit assignments. From there the class could progress to devising dance phrases through the “I Ching” (find an online version for lessons here!) or other chance methods like dice. The videos of the app also offer rare footage that give voice to Cunningham dancers. This gives students the opportunity to identify with the intricacies of being a professional dancer.

Pros:
Firstly, the app is free, which makes it accessible for all students. The app is user-friendly, so can easily be used for elementary students. Only actions needed are tap or swipe. 2wice also has a succinct biography of Merce Cunningham included. It’s also possible to “like” specific images within the app, which allow for student-dancers and educators to retrieve the photos quickly. In short, I discovered a myriad of pros to use this app.

Cons:
The three videos in the app stream directly. Fast-forwarding, rewinding, or pausing the video is not possible. This is particularly challenging if you’d like to have a brief class share while sharing the footage.

About the app:Pinterest is most likely not the first app you think about when looking for educational dance resources, but it has proven to be an extremely helpful resource over the past months to me. As many of you probably know, Pinterest is a visual bookmarking tool that exists in website and app format.

Possible classroom applications:
Pinterest is a great resource to search for rubrics, explore classroom management or lesson plan ideas, discover ways to differentiate lessons, and find acrostics or photos to post in your classroom. There are endless topics one can research in dance education. Additionally, middle and high school students could use this app as part of research projects.

Pros:
The app is free to use, and to see content you don’t need an account. Also, it’s easy to create a board (a group of images, videos, or websites) to send to students’ email addresses. This will provide the class with a specific bank of research material.

Cons:
The app and website don’t offer safety features that block sexually explicit content, therefore it’s essential to monitor usage for students during classroom activities. Also, when connected to other social network sites, it’s easy to be distracted by people’s posts.

I have been using the Blackboard Mobile App on my iPad, and iPhone regularly since January 30, 2015. I use it for easy access to my course work and assignments on the go. I am often on the go and this app is much better and more organized than going to the Blackboard site on my mobile devices.

This application allows me to check my assignments, course updates, grades, and course documents on the go. It allows me to read important assignments when I am out and about, as well as having full access to Blackboard without using my web browser all the time. The favorites feature is key for me; I can keep favorites for tabs I often visit within my Blackboard site. This feature is also good for keeping track of assignments: I can pick my favorites to be assignments due that week, or upcoming soon!

My first unit plan for a recent set of students in the Bronx focused on devising movement. Since many students never had dance before being in my classroom, I wanted to create an experience that made them feel accomplished while building on their prior knowledge. Many of these students had expressed their passion for ELA and mobile devices during my initial assessment of their interests, so for my first few lessons I focused on connecting dance to writing words in both cursive as well as typed font.

I found a terrific app that provided my pupils with confidence and excitement. The app, called Dance Writer, is an easy-to-use app designed by Typotheque that functions on both iPad and iPhone platforms. Simply put, the app converts text into a choreographed sequence of poses based on the shapes of the letters, enabling users to send animated messages to their friends via email, or just enjoy the graceful movement on their own displays.

The app has limitations, and only can change fourteen characters at a time into movement. A second less exciting aspect is the fact that the virtual dancer returns to the neutral position after each executed letter. Conversely, this could provide the class with a worthy scaffolding opportunity into choreographing their own transitions between “movement letters.”

The app costs $2.99, and is definitely worth every penny. If you’re not convinced, or just wish to use it on a less frequent basis, you can also use the application online by clicking here. This free online version allows more than fourteen characters at a time, and offers the user to make changes while the letters are being executed. The online platform is also the best way to use the application on your smart-board.

I give Dance Writer 4 out of 5 stars, since it provided my students with an interesting and enriching experience. This app has a lot of potential, but should definitely be cheaper than the offered price, especially considering it’s offered for free online.

On this #TechTuesday, we celebrate Jessica Wilt, an innovator in the arts, technology, and community building!

Jessica is a dancer, arts education advocate, and the founder of ArtsEdTechNYC, “a group for artists and performing artists, educators in K-12 and higher ed, teaching artists, arts & culture or recreational organizations, technology enthusiasts, entrepreneurs and anyone interested in the intersection of the arts with education and technology.”

Through monthly #ArtsEdTech Tuesday gatherings (the first Tuesday of each month at the Centre for Social Innovation) and #ArtsEdTech Thursdays (a moderated panel series at Apple SoHo), ArtsEdTechNYC has been cultivating a community of forward-thinking arts educators to spark conversation, share ideas, and help nurture the growing connections between the arts and technology.

In her recent feature in the New Learning Times, Jessica discussed her vision for the group: “I launched ArtsEdTechNYC a year ago as a platform for people to network, exchange ideas and learn from others who are using technology in successful, meaningful ways with arts education being the anchor. I continue to be inspired by the connections that are being made, the stories that are being shared, and hope the future of ArtsEdTech becomes a virtual platform for those in the arts, education, and tech fields to collaborate and learn from each other, especially teaching best practices and professional development modeling.”

We applaud Jessica for her work within the New York City arts community and encourage all of you to join the ArtsEdTech Meetup Group for up-to-date information on their latest events.